CNN
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his appearance for nearly 19 months. He released the hostages and defeated Hamas, claiming he stood equally on top of the pyramid of Israel’s war target.
Even if members of his Right-wing Governing Union threatened to overthrow his government if he agreed to a ceasefire and a contract for hostage release. Even if he himself casts an 11-hour obstacle to reach such a deal. And even if evidence was obtained that Israeli military operations directly and indirectly led to the murder of Israeli hostages. Among all these contradictions, Netanyahu argued that both objectives were equally important.
There’s no more. Currently, Netanyahu prioritizes the war and the survival of his government over the fate of Gaza’s 59 hostages and most Israeli people’s will.
A week after calling the defeat of Israel’s enemy the “highest purpose” of war, Netanyahu is turning that rhetoric into action. It has called tens of thousands of residents to Pammel, what the Minister calls Hamas “final move.”
Israeli officials say the plan will not be implemented anytime soon, and say Hamas will argue that it is the government’s preference for agreeing to a ceasefire deal with another hostage on Israeli terms in at least a week and a half. The deadline, they say, is the conclusion that President Donald Trump visited the area next week. However, such transactions are unlikely to happen in that time frame, and these are no longer threats of lazy idle.
The right-wing minister, who has thwarted previous ceasefire deals and called for a long time to conquer Gaza, is congratulating the now-approved plan. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has now vowed that “even in exchange for hostages there will be no retreat from the territory we have conquered.”
For Netanyahu, that means political security – Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwil are leaving the government and taking in the repeated threat of ousting new elections off the table, keeping him in the prime minister’s office.
Also, according to the Israeli Can 11, it means that it is against the will of the majority of Israel. According to Channel 12, they support a contract to end the war in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages.
Hamas has repeatedly stated that it is open to such an all-in-one deal, hoping to save the position of power in Gaza, but the Israeli government has rejected the end of the war to arm the group and rule the strip.
For the Israeli hostage family, Netanyahu’s decision was a gut punch.
“It appears the government has defeated Hamas in rescue of hostages and returning home because doing so requires the war to be stopped,” Anat, the mother of Mathan’s abdomen, Israeli soldier, told Harletz. “The ministers are harming soldiers and putting hostages at even greater risk. What is needed was a pause to develop a real strategic plan. What is happening now is a war backed by revenge and conquest, not a real desire to save lives.”
“It doesn’t reflect the will of the people or the hearts of the Jews,” she said.
The spread of Israeli attacks in Gaza poses more than just risk to more Israeli bomb hostages. Hamas has repeatedly said that if the Israelites approach their position they will execute hostages. Israel’s plan to replace almost the entire population of Gaza with the South may continue to starve the rest of humanitarian aid.
In particular, just days before Israeli security cabinet handed over the expanded war effort to Green, Netanyahu’s wife and close advisor Sarah tried to downplay the number of living hostages. When Netanyahu said last week that “up to 24” hostages held in Gaza were still alive, his wife cried out “less.” Her comments reflect Israeli officials said CNN was “significant concern” about three of those hostages.
For the people of Gaza, Netanyahu’s decision threatens catastrophe beyond the tragic humanitarian crisis that already grasps the territory that is besieged. The expanded Israeli attack ensures another massive forced displacement of the Palestinians, more death and destruction, and the continued use of starvation as a weapon of war.
Even if Netanyahu’s decision to destroy Hamas more than the fate of the remaining hostages becomes clear, the ability of the Israeli forces to achieve the objectives of the group remains uncertain.
The factors that allowed Hamas to survive after nearly 19 months of war and remain in power in Gaza still remain, and Israeli national security analysts remain skeptical that tens of thousands of additional troops fundamentally change the dynamics of the conflict. Sending them with the goal of occupying the massive Swas in Gaza could drive Israeli military casualties and risk shaking the troops for years in the quagmire of suppression disease.
Perhaps that’s why Netanyahu didn’t barrel at the first to his head the path he just chose.
Trump’s return to power allowed Netanyahu to abandon the guardrail imposed on him by President Joe Biden during the first 15 months of the war. However, even if Trump and his administration made it clear they would not try to constrain Israel’s military action in Gaza, Netanyahu did not immediately pursue the expansionary war that his right-wing allies were screaming for.
But in the moment of the fulcrum, he was now chosen – the decision to shake up the Gaza Strip will forever change the fate of over 2 million Palestinians and 59 hostages.
